Healthy Walks

Walking is a safe way to improve your health and fitness. You don’t need any special gear, only a pair of comfortable shoes and a shower proof coat (just in case).

Get walking and lose the belly!

Lets say you weigh about 11 stone (70kg) and you complete a 1½ mile (2.2km) walk. You will burn about 162 calories (about the same as a packet of crisps) regardless of the speed you walk. This doesn’t sound like much, but if you walk five times a week you’ll burn off 800 calories (5 packets of crisps) and over a year, 41,600 calories (260 packets of crisps!).

It takes 3500 calories to burn 1 pound (450g) of body fat. If you take care with your diet and do five walks a week, every week you could burn nearly 12lbs (5kg) of body fat in a year.

Walking is the easiest, safest, cheapest and greenest way to improve your health. Use our calorie wheels to work out how many calories you could burn on a walk.

Stroll-on..!

Stroll on..! is a pack of 2 to 5 mile walks - great if you’re looking for a longer walk. Each walk is calorie counted so if you need to lose a pound or two you can use these routes to help you lose some weight.

Feel better!

Regular walking helps you to feel better and helps you sleep. A good walk also helps you to feel less stressed. Get away from it all – have a walk. Regular walking will also strengthen you heart, reduce blood pressure, lower your cholesterol and (if you watch what you eat as well) help you to manage your weight.

Stealthy walking!

It’s simple to trick yourself into going for a walk. Try these ideas:

Walk the kids to school.

Get off the bus a stop earlier.

Use the stairs and not the lift.

Borrow a dog and take it for a walk.

If you're driving somewhere less than a mile away, walk instead.

Hide the TV remote control.

Visit your local country park.

Think about it!

If you think that walking may be able to help you get fit, just remember
"30 minutes a day keeps the doctor away!"

For the maximum health benefits you should aim to do a 30 minute brisk walk a day. If that's too much, break it down into 3 ten-minute walks a day. This is what you are aiming for. This may seem daunting so we've devised this walking workout to help you reach this goal.

Now it’s up to you. Keep challenging yourself. Remember if you have difficulty during any week’s workout stop. Go back a week and repeat that week's workout until you are confident that you can continue.

Please note: If you have been ill recently, are taking medication or are overweight please talk to your doctor before starting walking for health.

* A brisk walk means walking at a pace that makes you warm and your breathing slightly more heavy than normal. Don't overdo it though. You should still be able to talk when walking!